125-421: The Whitlams are an Australian Indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than mainstay Freedman, the line-up has changed numerous times. From 2001 to 2022, he was joined by Warwick Hornby on bass guitar, Jak Housden on guitar and Terepai Richmond on drums – forming
250-709: A reverb heavy, pop –influenced sound. Marked by the Clean's 1981 debut single "Tally-Ho!" and 1982's Dunedin Double EP featuring the Chills , Sneaky Feelings , the Verlaines and the Stones , its guitars were often jangly and droning and vocals indistinct. The following years, the Dunedin sound spread to other New Zealand cities such as Christchurch or Auckland . The decade then saw
375-595: A 2009 article for the Guardian , journalist Peter Robinson cited the landfill indie movement as dead, blaming the Wombats , Scouting For Girls , and Joe Lean & the Jing Jang Jong by stating "If landfill indie had been a game of Buckaroo , those three sent the whole donkey's arse of radio-friendly mainstream guitar band monotony flying high into the air, legs flailing." There continued to be commercial successes in
500-493: A 50-piece orchestra using performers from each city. Tim Freedman said that "It is an honour to play with these musicians who in some cases have been playing their instruments since they were in the womb." In 2020, the band released their first new song in almost 15 years, "Ballad of Bertie Kidd". The six-minute song was written from the perspective of a would-be criminal, enlisted by Kidd for an art gallery heist in Gosford. The single
625-716: A Life (2017) winning the Mercury Prize in 2018 and third album Blue Weekend (2021) being nominated. Writer Martin Young stated in a 2021 article for Dork that "It's impossible to truly state just how important Wolf Alice are. They are the catalyst for almost all the amazing bands you've read about in Dork over the last 5 years." The Clouds (Australian band) The Clouds (also called just Clouds ) are an indie rock band from Sydney , Australia formed in December 1989. The core of
750-691: A benefit concert was held at the Metro club in Sydney to raise money for his wife and child. The event was hosted by Paul McDermott , Mikey Robins and Steve Abbott (The Sandman), and performers included Max Sharam , and The Gadflys. During the Whitlam's Canadian tour in April, supporting Blue Rodeo , they received word that Lewis was dead. "Blow Up the Pokies" had been co-written by Freedman and Greta Gertler before Lewis' death – as
875-785: A bit of extra action." In December 1992 they played a gig in Canberra supporting the Gadflys. This line-up released their debut album, Introducing the Whitlams , in August 1993 on Black Yak/ Phantom Records . The album was recorded in January and March 1993 at the Skyhigh Studios in Newcastle ; for the recording sessions they used Louis Burdett and Nick Cecire on drums, with Rob Taylor producing. The album features
1000-536: A descriptor in its own right, describing not only the bands on the tape but also bands who it influenced, often used alongside terms like "anorak pop" and "shambling". Some C86 bands found significant commercial success: the Soup Dragons went on to sell out Madison Square Garden ; Primal Scream were critically acclaimed, receiving the first ever Mercury Prize in 1992; the Wedding Present charted eighteen times in
1125-451: A different style of music and I think people appreciated hearing something a bit different [... it's] sort of happy, sensitive, not that loud... much more acoustic." The Canberra Times ' reporter, Nicole Leedham felt it was "sublime and ridiculous, the band's bluesy, country, jazzy, punky, folky pop swings from bleeding sensitivity to drunken hilarity." Oz Music Project described the album as being "very different to later recordings, with
1250-659: A free CD with various newspapers: The Sunday Telegraph (1 June), The Australian (26 July) and The Mercury . It contains material from their four live performances with the Sydney Symphony at the Sydney Opera House in the previous September. The Whitlams released a compilation album, Truth, Beauty and a Picture of You in August 2008, which peaked at No. 3. As part of it promotion the group performed on TV programs including Nine's Footy Show (NRL), Seven's Sunrise and The Morning Show . The Whitlams performed with
1375-464: A key element of indie is the dichotomy between a "puritan ethos" and a "romantic one", with the former using austere ethics, and the latter being eccentric. This is best seen in the contrast between the indie music of United States and the United Kingdom in the 1990s, with British acts being flamboyant performers, while American acts used their lack of virtuosity as a mark of authenticity. Indie rock
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#17328556166161500-640: A mix of original and cover songs, including tracks written by Justin Hayes a.k.a. Stanley Claret (Plunder's brother). The album comprises three studio tracks, five live takes and two songs from their first demo, including a tribute song to the band's namesake, "Gough", which was written by Freedman. The lead single, "Woody", detailed Woody Allen 's break up with Mia Farrow and was followed by their second single, "Gough". Plunder described their sound to Naomi Mapstone of The Canberra Times , "There'd been lots of rap and lots of thrash and that's all very good, but we just have
1625-416: A musical approach, the indie rock movement encompassed a wide range of styles, from hard-edged, grunge-influenced bands, through do-it-yourself experimental bands like Pavement , to punk-folk singers such as Ani DiFranco . In his book DIY Style: Fashion, Music and Global Digital Cultures , Brent Luvaas described the genre as rooted in nostalgia, citing the influence of garage rock and psychedelic rock of
1750-567: A national tour for October that saw them focus on the early years of The Whitlams' material, between 1993 and 1997. To replicate the sound of these albums, the band was joined by double bassist Scott Owen of The Living End . In February 2024, it was announced that The Whitlams Black Stump Band had changed its name to The Whitlams Black Stump, and would release the album Kookaburra in March 2024. The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by
1875-562: A performance schedule reduced to around four weeks each year. They performed an outdoor concert with West Australian artist, Jason Ayres, in March 2015 at the Mundaring Weir Hotel To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band, the Whitlams performed six shows with the symphony orchestras of each capital city in Australia for an Anniversary tour. Taking place in April and May 2017, the tour visited Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Canberra and Adelaide. In each city, they were backed by
2000-399: A post-grunge and hardcore on their breakthrough albums Word Gets Around (1997) and Performance and Cocktails (1999), before moving into more melodic territory with Just Enough Education to Perform (2001) and subsequent albums. Feeder , who were initially more influenced by American post-grunge, producing a hard rock sound that led to their breakthrough single " Buck Rogers " and
2125-448: A re-released Penny Century which included a limited edition bonus CD of early songs called Pre-Raphaelite . This helped the album to reach gold accreditation in Australia (35,000 copies sold). In November 1996, the band released their fourth studio album Futura which peaked at number 50 on the ARIA chart. The group eventually disbanded in 1997. In 1999, the compilation album Favourites
2250-560: A result, the term "alternative" lost its original counter-cultural meaning and began to refer to the new, commercially lighter form of music that was now achieving mainstream success. New York magazine writer Carl Swanson argued that even the term "sellout" lost its meaning as grunge made it possible for a niche movement, no matter how radical, to be co-opted by the mainstream, cementing the formation of an individualist, fragmented culture. In his book Popular Music: The Key Concepts , media academic Roy Shuker states that "Grunge represented
2375-520: A statement about the destruction in Lewis' life due to gambling. Freedman wrote "The Curse Stops Here" to describe being the 'last one' of the original line-up and voicing his determination to survive. "The Curse Stops Here" was included as a B-side track on the single version of "Blow Up the Pokies". During the broadcast of the 2000 Sydney Olympics in September, the Whitlams' track, "Sydney 2000 Olympic Theme",
2500-513: A style and more a categorization, it describes an early 1990s trend of acts who followed in the traditions of early electronic music (composers of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop ), krautrock and synth-pop . Progenitors of the genre were English bands Disco Inferno , Stereolab , and Space . Most musicians in the genre can be found on independent labels like Warp , Morr Music , Sub Pop or Ghostly International . Space rock took
2625-686: A style indebted to '60s-70s bands like the Velvet Underground and the Ramones , the band's intention musically was to sound like "a band from the past that took a time trip into the future to make their record." The album peaked at number thirty-three in the United States, staying in the charts for two additional years and debuted at number two on the UK albums chart . When the Strokes made their commercial debut,
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#17328556166162750-506: Is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent record labels , by the 1990s it became more widely associated with the music such bands produced. The sound of indie rock has its origins in the New Zealand Dunedin sound of the Chills , Sneaky Feelings , Tall Dwarfs ,
2875-514: Is composed of Freedman, Richmond, banjo player Rod McCormack, pedal steel player Ollie Thorpe and bassist Matt Fell. Freedman began the project after discovering that "Man About a Dog" had been added to country radio. A new version of "No Aphrodisiac" by the Black Stump Band was released in July. In June 2022, the band announced a 25th anniversary tour for Eternal Nightcap . With the announcement came
3000-465: Is less cohesive, covering a wide range of subject matter. The song style is different here, too, as Freedman allows his piano to take a back seat to guitars or brass on a number of tracks. The city of the title is Sydney, and many of these songs relate to its changing face." He described "You Gotta Love This City" as "less-than-complimentary reaction to the commercialism of the Olympic Games" and "Blow Up
3125-482: Is noted for having a relatively high proportion of female artists compared with preceding rock genres, a tendency exemplified by the development of the feminist-informed riot grrrl music of acts like Bikini Kill , Bratmobile , 7 Year Bitch , Team Dresch and Huggy Bear . However, Cortney Harding pointed out that this sense of equality is not reflected in the number of women running indie labels. The BBC documentary Music for Misfits: The Story of Indie pinpoints
3250-400: Is seeking more of the quiet life on the couch with his bulging vinyl collection, [or] on the golf course with his two wood, and is looking forward to watching the band live for the first time this September at The Enmore Theatre. Look for him in the stalls. Thanks for all the good times Waz, and for all the memories from London to Montreal, and New York to Broome. In May 2023, the band announced
3375-664: The Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music . The Whitlams have won three ARIA Music Awards from fourteen nominations. The Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001. Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to
3500-546: The Billboard 200 chart, becoming the band's highest-charting album in the United States. In August 2017, AM was certified platinum by the RIAA for combined sales and album-equivalent units over of a million units in the United States. As of the 14th of April 2023 every track from the album was certified silver or higher by the BPI with "Mad Sounds" being the last to be certified. When
3625-663: The COVID-19 pandemic . The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards ), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. The Whitlams won one award in that time. The Triple J Hottest 100 is an annual music listener poll hosted by the publicly-funded, national Australian youth radio station, Triple J . Triple J Hottest 100 Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time General Specific Indie rock Indie rock
3750-466: The Thames Valley . During the 1990s, the mainstream success of grunge and Britpop , two movements influenced by indie rock, brought increased attention to the genre and saw record labels use their independent status as a marketing tactic. This led to a split within indie rock: one side conforming to mainstream radio; the other becoming increasingly experimental. By this point, "indie rock" referred to
3875-497: The psychedelic rock , ambient music influence of Pink Floyd and Hawkwind and incorporated them into an indie rock context. The style began with Spacemen 3 in the 1980s, with later groups including Spiritualized , Flying Saucer Attack , Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Quickspace . As Britpop waned towards the end of the decade, post-Britpop took hold within the UK's indie rock scene. From about 1997, as dissatisfaction grew with
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4000-473: The " slacker " stereotype, and as a defining anthem of 90s indie rock. With the rise of Britpop , many of Britain's earlier indie rock bands fell into obscurity. Fronted by Blur , Oasis , Pulp and Suede , the bands in the movement were advertised as being underground artists, as a means to compete commercially with the United States' grunge scene. While Britpop was stylistically indebted to indie rock and began as an offshoot of it, Britpop bands abandoned
4125-522: The 1960s in progenitors the Stone Roses and the Smiths , in addition to a lyrical preoccupation with literature. In this same vein, Matthew Bannister defined indie rock as "small groups of white men playing guitars, influenced by punks and 1960s white pop/rock, within a broader discourse and practice of (degrees of) independence from mainstream musical values." According to anthropologist Wendy Fonarow ,
4250-412: The 1975 's merger of indie rock and mainstream pop began gaining commercial attraction in the early 2010s, it was controversial; they received the award for "Worst Band" at the 2014 NME Awards , but by 2017 received "Best Live Band" at the same award show. Alternative Press writer Yasmine Summan stated that "If you could summarize 2013 and 2014 in one album for indie and alternative fans, it would be
4375-519: The 1975's self-titled release ". In an article for the Guardian accrediting the 1975 as the band to "usher indie into the mainstream", writer Mark Beaumont compared vocalist Matty Healy's influence on the genre to that of Libertines vocalist Pete Doherty , and Pitchfork listed them as one of the most influential artists in music since 1995. In the 1975's wake, a number of other indie pop artist gained popularity. Some critics termed this phenomenon "Healywave", which notably included: Pale Waves ,
4500-585: The 1980s closed, both Sonic Youth and the Pixies signed to major labels. In the late 1980s, the indie rock subgenre shoegaze emerged, as a continuation of the wall of sound production being used by groups like the Jesus and Mary Chain. The genre merged this with influences from Dinosaur Jr. and the Cocteau Twins , to create a dark and droning style so cacophonous that instruments were often indistinguishable. The genre
4625-554: The 2010s Arcade Fire 's The Suburbs (2010), the Black Keys's Turn Blue (2014), Kings of Leon's Walls (2016), the Killers's Wonderful Wonderful (2017), which reached number one on the Billboard charts in the United States and the official chart in the United Kingdom, with Arcade Fire's album winning a Grammy for Album of The Year in 2011. Other indie rock acts like Florence and
4750-533: The ARIA charts. In June 1993, recording began on the third album, Thunderhead . The lead single "Bower of Bliss" was released in August. Thunderhead was released in October, and peaked at number 30 on the ARIA chart. The second single, "Alchemy's Dead" was released in December. In 1994, Clouds took a six-month tour to Europe and the United States, securing an American record deal with Elektra Records . Whilst in London
4875-453: The Aces , Joan , Fickle Friends and No Rome . Of this group, Pale Waves were particularly commercially prominent, with their debut album My Mind Makes Noises peaking at number eight on the UK albums chart, Who Am I? (2021) at number three and Unwanted (2022) at number four. At around the same time Wolf Alice became a prominent force in the scene, with their second album Visions of
5000-557: The Afternoon " (July 2003, No. 66) and their cover version of Icehouse 's " Don't Believe Anymore " (February, No. 47). Another track on the album, "I Will not Go Quietly (Duffy's Song)", had been written and performed by Freedman for the Australian TV series, Love Is a Four Letter Word , "Episode 21: Oval" (June 2001). The band's sixth studio album, Little Cloud (consisting of two CDs: Little Cloud and The Apple's Eye ),
5125-837: The Apples in Stereo , Beulah , Circulatory System , Elf Power , the Minders , Neutral Milk Hotel , of Montreal and the Olivia Tremor Control – merged indie rock with psychedelic pop . Gimme Indie Rock author Andrew Earles stated that the collective, namely Neutral Milk Hotel on On Avery Island (1996), "helped keep the genre artistically relevant while other bands defected and other underground styles rose to prominence". Indie electronic or indietronica covers rock-based artists who share an affinity for electronic music, using samplers, synthesizers, drum machines, and computer programs. Less
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5250-501: The Badloves ) on guitar and Terepai Richmond ( dig , Tina Arena ) on drums. The producers were Denholm and Atomica. Clayton Bolger of AllMusic described the "strong album from a promising lineup" which "only falls when the band significantly stray from their classic rock/pop sound." It provided the singles " Fall for You " (June 2002, which became their equal highest single at No. 21), " Best Work " (September, No. 35), " Royal in
5375-639: The Clash , the Kinks , the Smiths and the Jam , the band's style of tinny, high register, sometimes acoustic, guitar parts topped by lyrics of British parochial pleasures in the vocalists' authentic English accents became widely imitated. The Fratellis , the Kooks , and the View were three such acts to gain significant commercial success, although the most prominent post-Libertines band
5500-414: The Clean and the Verlaines , and early 1980s college rock radio stations who would frequently play jangle pop bands like the Smiths and R.E.M. . The genre solidified itself during the mid–1980s with NME ' s C86 cassette in the United Kingdom and the underground success of Sonic Youth , Dinosaur Jr. and Unrest in the United States. During the decade, indie rock bands like Sonic Youth,
5625-612: The Cribs , Bloc Party , Kaiser Chiefs and the Others . However, the Libertines , who formed in 1997, stood as the UK's counterpoint to the Strokes, being described by AllMusic as "one of the U.K.'s most influential 21st century acts" and the Independent stating that "the Libertines wanted to be an important band, but they could not have predicted the impact they would have". Influenced by
5750-568: The DoubleHappys and Straitjacket Fits . Knox later formed another short-lived punk band called Toy Love , and after it broke up, he went on to start the influential band Tall Dwarfs , who were an integral influence on the emergence of home-recorded lo-fi indie . The punk-inspired aspects of the scene were often inspired by opposition to Robert Muldoon and his government, which prompted satire or outright criticism. The scene saw bands take influence from punk rock, but strip away its aggression for
5875-605: The EP Beetroot was recorded. It was released in Australia in October 1994 and peaked at number 65 on the ARIA chart. Following the signing with Elektra Records Thunderhead was released in the United States in March 1995 along with numerous promotional singles. However, shortly after these releases The Clouds were dumped by Elektra. Despite this setback, recording of new songs continued and two singles were released in 1995, "Aquamarine" and "Panel Van" in August and November 1995, respectively. In May 1996, Red Eye Records released
6000-464: The Harbourside Brasserie in mid-1994 and at Goosens Hall on 30 July 1995 (part of national radio station Triple J 's 'Real Appeal' broadcast), with the earlier three-piece line-up of Freedman, Lewis and Plunder. The Whitlams recorded their third album, Eternal Nightcap , with Freedman and Taylor co-producing. Freedman "chose musicians to fit each song, rather than have the same band through
6125-481: The Head (2002) went multi-platinum , establishing them as one of the most popular acts in the world by the time of their third album X&Y (2005). Snow Patrol's " Chasing Cars " (from their 2006 album Eyes Open ) is the most widely played song of the 21st century on UK radio. The mainstream attention which indie rock garnered in the 2000s began with the Strokes and their 2001 debut album Is This It . Playing
6250-581: The Hunters Club and Scum Pups . In the early 1990s, the Seattle grunge scene, and its most visible acts, Nirvana , Pearl Jam , Soundgarden and Alice in Chains , broke into the mainstream. The monumental success of these bands, particularly Nirvana, brought increased attention to the indie rock scene, which initiated a shift in which the indie rock descriptor became displaced by the term alternative rock . As
6375-741: The Machine , the Decemberists and LCD Soundsystem gained number one singles in the United States during the decade, with Vampire Weekend , Florence and the Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Bon Iver , the Killers and the Postal Service gaining platinum selling records. Vampire Weekend's third studio album Modern Vampires of the City (2013) received the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2014, with Consequence writer Tyler Clark stating that in 2019 it
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#17328556166166500-473: The Moon , the Whitlams' fifth studio album, was released in July 2002, which debuted at No. 1. ARIA Reported that the group are "one of the great underdog success stories of recent Aussie rock history, [they] have immortalized themselves, by becoming the latest Australian act to debut at # 1." For the album the line-up were Freedman with Warwick Hornby on bass guitar (ex-Max Sharam, Paul Mac ), Jak Housden (ex-
6625-604: The Pixies and Radiohead all released albums on major labels and subgenres like slowcore , Midwest emo , slacker rock and space rock began. By this time, "indie" had evolved to refer to bands whose music was released on independent record labels, in addition to the record labels themselves. As the decade progressed many individual local scenes developed their own distinct takes on the genre: baggy in Manchester ; grebo in Stourbridge and Leicester ; and shoegaze in London and
6750-537: The Pokies" as detailing the "infiltration of gambling machines into suburban bars and clubs." Nimmervoll described how the album "was again recorded in a number of studios, with a changed line-up, leaning on the same and new songwriting collaborations. It couldn't match the emotional charge that came with Eternal Nightcap but did enough to ensure The Whitlams' survival." Former founding member, Andy Lewis committed suicide in Sydney in February 2000. A month after Lewis' death
6875-544: The Promise Ring and Cap'n Jazz distanced emo from its hardcore roots and allowed the genre to develop a much more realised scene than its first wave. This style of emo broke into mainstream culture in the early 2000s, with the platinum-selling success of Jimmy Eat World 's Bleed American (2001) and Dashboard Confessional 's The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most (2001). One particularly notable scene during this wave
7000-427: The Replacements releasing albums on majors in the middle of the decade. While these albums did not see the same success as R.E.M., and major labels soon lost interest in the scene, they did have a large impact on younger bands. In the following years, Sonic Youth , Dinosaur Jr. and Unrest began to release music on independent labels indebted to these bands, and soon too picked up the categorisation of indie rock. As
7125-473: The Smiths. The Madchester movement burgeoned by 1989, with the success of the Happy Mondays second album Bummed and the Stone Roses ' self-titled debut , which became the most influential work in the scene. In the following years, addition high profile acts included the Charlatans , 808 State and the Inspiral Carpets . The Madchester scene's distinct combination of indie rock and dance music became termed indie dance by critics, or more specifically
7250-504: The Sydney Symphony in 2009 to celebrate the 12th anniversary of the release of their breakthrough album, Eternal Nightcap . From 2011 to 2013 the Whitlams were on hiatus. On 11 November 2011 (the anniversary of Gough Whitlam's dismissal), Freedman released a solo album, Australian Idle , which featured his new backing band The Idle. The line-up was Heath Cullen on guitar, Zoe Hauptmann on bass guitar, Dave Hibbard on drums and Amy Vee on guitar and keyboards. The Whitlams reunited in 2013, with
7375-462: The Top 40; however many bands in its twenty-two track runtime also fell into obscurity. In the United States, the popularity of R.E.M. allowed those disliking of hardcore punk 's aggression to become a part of the underground music scene. This empowered an array of musicians, particularly those in what would become the post-hardcore scene as led by the Minutemen . Furthermore, major labels began to pursue underground bands, with both Hüsker Dü and
7500-429: The UK with their first five albums. As of June 2019, AM has spent 300 weeks in the top 100 of the UK Albums Chart . The album also peaked at number one in Australia, Belgium (Flanders), Croatia, Slovenia, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Portugal, and reached top ten positions in several other countries. In the United States, the album sold 42,000 copies in its first week, and debuted at number six on
7625-415: The US top 40 and was nominated for a Grammy Award), Bright Eyes (who in 2004 had two singles at the top of the Billboard magazine Hot 100 Single Sales ) and Death Cab for Cutie (whose 2005 album Plans debuted at number four in the US, remaining on the Billboard charts for nearly one year and achieving platinum status and a Grammy nomination). This new commercial breakthrough and the widespread use of
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#17328556166167750-419: The US, and the Smiths , from the UK, who Matthew Bannister states were the earliest indie rock groups. These bands' influence was showcased quickly seen in the formation of Let's Active , the Housemartins and the La's . By this time, the term "indie rock" had begun to be used to describe the bands who produced music on independent record labels, rather than simply the record labels themselves. This made it
7875-436: The United Kingdom, NME released the C86 compilation cassette, which consisted of tracks by groups including Primal Scream , the Pastels and the Wedding Present . Intended to showcase the UK's current independent music scene, the album was made up of groups combining elements of jangle pop, post-punk and Phil Spector indebted Walls of Sound . In 2006, Bob Stanley called it "the beginning of indie music". C86 became
8000-527: The White Stripes , the Vines , and the Hives . These groups were christened by parts of the media as the "The" bands, and dubbed "the saviours of rock 'n' roll", prompting Rolling Stone magazine to declare on its September 2002 cover, "Rock is Back!" The success of the Strokes revitalised the then-dying underground post-Britpop scene in the United Kingdom with groups who took the band's influence and experimented with their sound. This first wave of UK acts included Franz Ferdinand , Kasabian , Maxïmo Park ,
8125-403: The Wonder Stuff and Ned's Atomic Dustbin , "grebo" was broadly defined, and was used more as a name for the Stourbridge scene than as a genre label. However, the bands quickly gained attention: Pop Will Eat Itself's 1989 singles " Wise Up! Sucker " and " Can U Dig It? " both entered the UK Top 40 and Stourbridge briefly became a tourist attraction for young indie rock fans. The seminal albums from
8250-401: The Word magazine. A 2020 Vice article cited Johnny Borrell , vocalist of Razorlight , as the "one man who defined, embodied and lived Landfill Indie" due his forming of a "spectacularly middle-of-the-road" band despite his close proximity to the Libertines' "desperate kinetic energy, mythologised love-hate dynamic and vision of a dilapidated Britain animated by romance and narcotics". In
8375-404: The album Echo Park (2001). After the death of their drummer Jon Lee , they moved to a more reflective and introspective mode on Comfort in Sound (2002), their most commercially successful album to that point, which spawned a series of hit singles. The most commercially successful band in the millennium were Coldplay , whose first two albums Parachutes (2000) and A Rush of Blood to
8500-413: The album include " You Sound Like Louis Burdett " (May 1997), " Melbourne " (January 1998) and " No Aphrodisiac " (February). "No Aphrodisiac" was released independently by Freedman's own label, had no film clip, no commercial radio airplay and no marketing budget however it reached the top 60 on the ARIA Singles Chart, and top 50 in New Zealand . "No Aphrodisiac" sold more than 80,000 copies and
8625-459: The album, in October 1994, they issued a single, " Met My Match ". Late that year Lewis had left to return to the Gadflys, with Mike Vidale brought in as his replacement. Their next single, " I Make Hamburgers ", was released in October 1995 and received airplay on national radio stations, including Triple J . The Whitlams' "I Make Hamburgers" was listed on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1996 on Australia Day (26 January). That same day, Stevie Plunder
8750-444: The arena, the two planned to form a group. The Whitlams were formed as a pop band by September that year, with Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis on double bass (also ex-The Plunderers, The Gadflys, Olive Branch) and Plunder on guitar. Freedman named the band after the former Prime Minister of Australia , Gough Whitlam , although Plunder had sought to call themselves, 'The Three Nice Boys'. According to Freedman "I loved
8875-499: The artists have been extremely diverse, including punk , psychedelia , post-punk and country . The lo-fi , experimental and art rock sound of the Velvet Underground as well as late '70s punk and post-punk bands such as the Fall , Buzzcocks , Wire , Television and Joy Division would be influential to the genre. Allmusic identifies indie rock as including a number of "varying musical approaches [not] compatible with mainstream tastes". Linked by an ethos more than
9000-509: The band sounding a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. A far cry from the lush orchestration of recent recordings." Stuart Eadie ( The Clouds , Olive Branch) became the band's first permanent drummer. During 1993 to 1994 they performed over 300 shows along the Australian east coast. At first they travelled in Freedman's Holden Kingswood station wagon before using a tour bus, which
9125-408: The band's first line-up change since 2001: the departure of bassist Warwick Hornby, who was replaced by Sancho session bassist Ian Peres. In a statement shared to the band's social media, Freedman confirmed that Hornby had retired: We would like to announce the retirement from live performance of our rock on the bass Warwick Hornby, who joined The Whitlams at the same time as Terepai in 1999. Warwick
9250-549: The band's longest-lasting and best-known line-up. Four of their studio albums have reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 20: Eternal Nightcap (September 1997, No. 14), Love This City (November 1999, No. 3), Torch the Moon (July 2002, No. 1) and Little Cloud (March 2006, No. 4). Their highest charting singles are " Blow Up the Pokies " (May 2000) and " Fall for You " (June 2002) – both reached number 21. The group's single, " No Aphrodisiac "
9375-511: The coining of the term "indie" to the 1977 self-publication of the Spiral Scratch EP by Manchester punk rock band the Buzzcocks , on their Ind ependent record label New Hormones . This inspired a DIY punk movement where bands like Swell Maps , 'O' Level , Television Personalities and Desperate Bicycles followed suit in pressing and distributing their own records. Distribution
9500-750: The concept of Cool Britannia and Britpop as a movement began to dissolve, emerging bands began to avoid the Britpop label while still producing music derived from it. After the decline of Britpop they began to gain more critical and popular attention. The Verve 's album Urban Hymns (1997) was a worldwide hit and their commercial peak before they broke up in 1999, while Radiohead – although having achieved moderate recognition with The Bends in 1995 – achieved near-universal critical acclaim with their experimental third album OK Computer (1997), and its follow-ups Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001). Stereophonics , used elements of
9625-479: The covers of magazines like NME and Melody Maker . Grebo bands were distinct from prior indie rock groups not only because of their broad influences, but their subversion of the twee or unhappy moods of most other bands in the genre, and their pursuit of a heavier sound and aesthetic. The scene came to include the stylistically similar bands of nearby Leicester: the Bomb Party , Gaye Bykers on Acid , Crazyhead ,
9750-515: The development of indie rock's sound. According to Audioculture , one of the earliest Dunedin Sound band was Chris Knox 's band the Enemy , which emerged as a post-punk group, whose members also included Alec Bathgate . Although the group was only around for a short time, their shows impressed the teenage musicians that came to see them, including a young Shayne Carter , who went on to form Bored Games ,
9875-445: The distinctive 'protest' element of British-based independent music" Music journalist John Harris has suggested that Britpop began when Blur's fourth single " Popscene " and Suede's debut " The Drowners " were released around the same time in the spring of 1992. He stated, "[I]f Britpop started anywhere, it was the deluge of acclaim that greeted Suede's first records: all of them audacious, successful and very, very British." Suede were
10000-635: The dominant sound was a style of indie rock that was heavily indebted to punk and Nirvana's album Bleach album, while also occasionally making use of drum machines . Gigwise writer Steven Kline described the style as "filthy guitars, filthier hair and t-shirts only a mother would wash". Prominent fraggle acts included Senseless Things , Mega City Four and Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine . Spin writer Charles Aaron described Pavement and Guided by Voices as "the two bands that came to exemplify indie rock in this period, and still define
10125-470: The duo announced they had disbanded again. The Clouds reunited to tour with Jesus Jones and The Wonder Stuff in August 2011. In late 2011 and early 2012, the band toured Australia in The Clouds Reunion Tour. In February 2017, The Clouds released a new song, "Mabel's Bookshop" from an EP Zaffre , their first new music in 20 years. Two more songs followed in 2017 and 2019. They toured at
10250-525: The family names—the Smiths, the Reivers. I thought, the Whitlams, no-one's done that. I'll be able to steal all the goodwill that Australia holds in reserve for Gough Whitlam." Initially, without a drummer, the band developed their material acoustically at the Sandringham Hotel, Newtown . Australian music critic, Ed Nimmervoll , felt that they were "a sideline band formed by two Sydney songwriters in search of
10375-688: The first UK punk single " New Rose " by the Damned In Australia , the Saints had their first punk release outside the US, " (I'm) Stranded ," on their own "Fatal Records" label. This was followed by the Go-Betweens releasing ' Lee Remick ' a few months later. Dunedin produced the independent record label Flying Nun Records , whose artists defined the Dunedin sound , which would be particularly influential on
10500-446: The first of the new crop of guitar-orientated bands to be embraced by the UK music media as Britain's answer to Seattle's grunge sound. Their debut album Suede for the fastest-selling debut album in the UK. Sunny Day Real Estate 's debut album, Diary (1994), began a new wave of the emo genre, by incorporating elements of it into their indie rock sound. Sunny Day Real Estate and other second wave emo bands, including Piebald ,
10625-487: The following years the Jesus and Mary Chain and Flying Nun Records bands like the Jean-Paul Sartre Experience morphed the genre into a slower, darker and more hypnotic style. The number of college radio stations in the US decreased significantly following NPR 's lobbying against noncommercial station during the 1980s. In turn, the name "college rock" fell into disfavour, soon being replaced by "indie". In
10750-497: The genre's earlier anti-establishment politics and instead brought it into the mainstream, with bands like Blur and Pulp even signing to major labels. In her essay Labouring the Point? The Politics of Britain in "New Britain" , politician and academic Rupa Huq states that Britpop "began as an offshoot of the independent British music scene but arguably ended up killing it, as a convergence took place between indie and mainstream, removing
10875-472: The genre, with Bandcamp Daily writer Robert Rubsam, calling them the "fountainhead for all that would come". The first wave of bands in the genre included Red House Painters , Codeine , Bedhead , Ida and Low . The genre originated from around the United States, with no geographic focus, and very little interaction between its artists. A younger subset of grebo bands emerged around 1991, who were in turn labelled "fraggle" bands. During this movement,
11000-509: The group consisted of frontwomen Jodi Phillis (guitar and vocals) and Patricia "Trish" Young (bass and vocals). The line-up of The Clouds has changed several times with different drummers and lead guitarists. The Clouds' music is distinguished by rapid and unusual chord changes, creative bass guitar, and Phillis and Young's vocal harmonies. They released 4 albums and numerous EPs and singles before breaking up in 1997. They reformed in 2011. The Clouds were one of Australia's most promising acts in
11125-420: The growing popularity of college radio stations, primarily in the United States, who would play independent artists of various genres, including alternative rock , new wave , post-hardcore and post-punk . The bands broadcast on these station became dubbed " college rock " by fans, another term which lacked any stylistic implication. The most prominent college rock bands were jangle pop groups R.E.M. , from
11250-598: The last 13 years, including a 35-week run peaking at number 49 in 2016–2017. Furthermore, it was the UK's most streamed pre-2010 song, until it was surpassed in late 2018, and continued to be purchased for download hundreds of times a week by 2017. In March 2018, the song reached the milestone of staying in the Top 100 of the UK Singles Chart for 200 weeks. The impact of the Strokes, the Libertines and Bloc Party led to significant major label interest in indie rock artists, which
11375-509: The late 1980s and early 1990s, along with other up-and-comers like Ratcat , Falling Joys , Tall Tales and True and The Hummingbirds . The Clouds secured a recording contract with Red Eye Records in 1990 and began recording their debut EP in May which was released in October, titled Cloud Factory . The EP peaked at number 118 on the ARIA charts In April 1991, they released the EP Loot , featuring
11500-574: The late 1980s. Defined by its merger of C86 indie rock, dance music and Hedonist rave culture, particularly its emphasis on the use of psychedelic drugs, the scene was centred in Manchester . The scene was based around the Haçienda nightclub, which opened in May 1982 as an initiative of Factory Records . For the first few years of its life, the club played predominantly club-oriented pop music and hosted performances by artists including New Order , Cabaret Voltaire , Culture Club , Thompson Twins and
11625-495: The mainstreaming of the North American indie rock ethic and style of the 1980s", going on to explain that a band's status as independent became "As much a marketing device as [indie rock and alternative rock were an] identifiable 'sound'". In the wake of this increased attention, indie rock experienced a split: accessible bands who catered to the now-popular alternative rock radio; and bands who continued to experiment, advancing in
11750-519: The musical style rather than ties to the independent music scene. In the 2000s, indie rock reentered the mainstream through the garage rock and post-punk revival and the influence of the Strokes and the Libertines . This success was exacerbated in the middle of the decade by Bloc Party , the Arctic Monkeys and the Killers and indie rock proliferated into the landfill indie movement. The term indie rock, which comes from "independent", describes
11875-463: The only genre at the time which was defined by the methods by which the music was distributed rather than the sound of said music. Journalist Steve Taylor also cited the bands involved in the Paisley Underground scene as early indie groups. However, this jangly style became increasingly mainstream as the decade progressed leading subsequent indie rock bands to abandon this style. Instead, in
12000-524: The public perception of "rock music" was based in post-grunge , nu metal and rap rock , putting their throwback style of garage rock as a stark contrast to the mainstream. The band's immediate influence allowed fellow classic rock influenced New York bands like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs , Interpol and TV on the Radio to gain mainstream attention. The Strokes were accompanied in this commercial breakthrough by
12125-633: The scene were released between 1989 and 1993: the Wonder Stuff's Hup and Never Loved Elvis ; Ned's Atomic Dustbin's God Fodder and Are You Normal? ; and Pop Will Eat Itself's This Is the Day...This Is the Hour...This Is This! and The Looks or the Lifestyle? . In this period, the scene's bands became fixtures, sometimes headliners, at Reading Festival , sold millions of albums and were frequently featured on
12250-431: The small and relatively low-budget labels on which it is released and the do-it-yourself attitude of the bands and artists involved. Although distribution deals are often struck with major corporate companies, these labels and the bands they host have attempted to retain their autonomy, leaving them free to explore sounds, emotions and subjects of limited appeal to large, mainstream audiences. The influences and styles of
12375-554: The song "Soul Eater". Loot peaked at number 22 on the ARIA chart. In mid 1991, recording for the Penny Century album began. The album was released in October 1991, and peaked at number 23 on the ARIA Chart. It spawned the singles " Hieronymous " and " Anthem ". In September 1992, the band released "Say It", the lead single from their second studio album Octopus which was released in October 1992. Octopus peaked at number 24 on
12500-549: The songs on the album have been released as radio-only singles, with a fourth, " Beautiful as You ", released as a CD single. The album was followed up with almost non-stop touring around Australia, including performances at political and university events. Freedman released Little Cloud outside Australia under his own name. The band made the news in September 2006 when, for political reasons, Freedman refused to perform to troops in Iraq , he told Peter Holmes of The Sunday Telegraph , "I
12625-466: The subgenre baggy . Madchester and baggy's most infamous moment was the 27 May 1990 Spike Island concert headlined by the Stone Roses. With an attendance of around 28,000 and lasting twelve hours, it was the first event of its size and kind to be hosted by an independent act. In Stourbridge , a scene of indie bands who took influence from electronic , punk, folk and hip-hop music emerged, dubbed grebo by critics. Fronted by Pop Will Eat Itself ,
12750-526: The term in many people's minds". Both bands made use of a Lo-fi production style which romanticised their D.I.Y. ethos. Pavement's 1992 album Slanted and Enchanted , was one of the defining albums of the slacker rock subgenre. Rolling Stone called the album "the quintessential indie rock album", placing it on the magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time . In the North Carolina Research Triangle , an indie rock scene
12875-661: The term indie to other forms of popular culture, led a number of commentators to suggest that indie rock had ceased to be a meaningful term. Additionally, a second wave of bands emerged in the United States that managed to gain international recognition as a result of the movement included the Black Keys , Kings of Leon , the Shins , the Bravery , Spoon , the Hold Steady , and the National . The most commercially successful band of this wave
13000-559: The underground. According to AllMusic , it was during this split that "indie rock" solidified itself as a term for the style of music played by these underground artists, while the mainstream indie rock-influenced bands became termed alternative rock. Slowcore developed in the United States as a direct counterpoint to the rapid growth of grunge. Although loosely defined, slowcore generally includes slow tempos, minimalist instrumentals and sad lyrics. Galaxie 500 , particularly their second album On Fire (1989), were heavy influences on
13125-567: The whole album." The album was recorded on an extremely limited budget of $ 18,000. In a later interview Freedman reflects "The band became a revolving door because I had no money to pay anyone. I actually made the album, Eternal Nightcap , during that most difficult period, that was a really tough year in which to keep my focus and keep my head up, but it ended in September 1997 when I put the record out and it just started selling itself." Jonathan Lewis of AllMusic described it as being " full of gentle, well-crafted, piano-driven pop songs." Singles from
13250-459: Was Las Vegas' the Killers . Formed in 2001, after hearing Is This It , the band scrapped the majority of their prior material to rewrite it under the Strokes' influence. The band's debut single " Mr. Brightside " spent 260 non-consecutive weeks, or five years, on the UK Singles Chart as of April 2021, the most out of any song, and As of 2017 , it had charted on the UK Singles Chart in 11 of
13375-594: Was Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys . One of the earliest groups to owe their initial commercial success to the use of Internet social networking , the Arctic Monkeys had two No. 1 singles, and their album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (2006) became the fastest-selling debut album in British chart history. In this success, legacy indie bands soon entered the mainstream, including Modest Mouse (whose 2004 album Good News for People Who Love Bad News reached
13500-765: Was asked, and decided not to go. ... I went to East Timor and enjoyed the experience. I understand how hard the soldiers do it. In this instance, I don't agree with the war." The Whitlams performed an orchestral tour from September to November 2007, performing shows with the Sydney Symphony , the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra , the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and The Queensland Orchestra . In mid-2008 they gave away 700,000 copies of The Whitlams & The Sydney Symphony Live in Concert , as
13625-446: Was being spearheaded by groups enfranched Merge Records like Superchunk , Archers of Loaf and Polvo . describing a growing scene of indie-rock bands who were influenced by hardcore punk and post-punk. At the time, publications such as Entertainment Weekly took to calling the college town of Chapel Hill the "next Seattle". Superchunk's single " Slack Motherfucker " has also been credited by Columbia magazine with popularizing
13750-469: Was found dead at the base of Wentworth Falls ; according to Nimmervoll, he was "either the victim of suicide, or of an accidental fall after a night out." The death of Plunder was the make it or break it moment for the band. After several months Freedman reformed the Whitlams with new members; another round of line-up changes occurred later in that year. In August 1996 they issued a nine-track live EP , Stupor Ego , with material recorded from performances at
13875-457: Was further improved with the establishment of 'The Cartel', an association of companies like Red Rhino and Rough Trade Records who would take the releases from these small labels and get them into record shops nationwide. Independent record labels would also be integral to the early years of punk rock musical distribution, as seen with Beserkley Records in the US, who put out The Modern Lovers debut album, and Stiff Records who released
14000-414: Was later revealed to be the lead single from the band's seventh album, Sancho , which was released on 28 January 2022. A further four singles were released from the album: "Man About a Dog", "(You're Making Me Feel Like I'm) 50 Again", "Cambridge Three" and "Nobody Knows I Love You". In April 2022, Freedman launched a country music off-shoot of the band, billed as The Whitlams Black Stump Band. The band
14125-569: Was listed at number one in the Triple J Hottest 100, 1997 . The success of the single translated into sales of over 200,000 copies of the album, with it peaking at No. 14 on the ARIA Albums Chart in February 1998. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1998 The Whitlams won Best Independent Release (for Eternal Nightcap ), Song of the Year (for "No Aphrodisiac") and Best Group . The 'Best Group' award
14250-576: Was listed at number one on the Triple J Hottest 100, 1997 by listeners of national radio station, Triple J . In January 1996 Stevie Plunder was found dead at the base of Wentworth Falls . Andy Lewis died in February 2000. Tim Freedman (ex-Penguin on Safari, Olive Branch) and Anthony Hayes a.k.a. Stevie Plunder (ex- the Plunderers , New Christs ) met at the Big Day Out Sydney concert in January 1992. While missing Nirvana performing inside
14375-477: Was pioneered by My Bloody Valentine on their early EPs and debut album Isn't Anything . The band's style influenced a wave of bands in London and the Thames Valley area including Chapterhouse , Moose and Lush . This scene was collectively termed "the Scene That Celebrates Itself" by Melody Maker's Steve Sutherland in 1990. Madchester was another style and scene that originated in
14500-516: Was played – it is a B-side from their 1995 single, "I Make Hamburgers". The track was reworked as "You Gotta Love This City" on Love This City . Its choice for the Sydney Olympics is an irony , as the song's protagonist commits suicide by jumping in the Harbour at the end of the song, disgusted at the city's crass pursuit of money: It dawns on him / The horror / We got the Olympic Games . Torch
14625-580: Was presented by Gough Whitlam, who announced the winners as "It's my family". At the conclusion of the ARIA Awards ceremony the Whitlams performed a cover of the Skyhooks ' " Women in Uniform ", this was subsequently released in March 1999 as a limited edition single. In mid-1999 the group signed a distribution deal with Warner Music Australasia , and toured Canada. The group's fourth studio album, Love This City ,
14750-509: Was recorded in Sydney and Memphis (a reflection of the considerably larger budget that Freedman had to work with). The three singles from the album " Thank You (For Loving Me at My Worst) " (January 2000), " Blow Up the Pokies " (May) and " Made Me Hard " (September 2001) all charted in the top 100 singles charts in Australia. "Blow Up the Pokies" was their highest charting single – it peaked at No. 21. AllMusic's Jonathan Lewis compared Love This City to their previous album, "this disc
14875-573: Was released in November 1999, which peaked at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It was recorded with the line-up of Freedman with Ben Fink on guitar, Bill Heckenberg on drums and Cottco Lovett on bass guitar, together with a large cast of guest musicians including Marcia Hines , Jackie Orszaczky , Chris Abrahams , Garry Gary Beers and members of Machine Gun Fellatio . The album had four producers: Freedman, Taylor, Daniel Denholm and Joe Hardy and
15000-528: Was released on 19 March 2006 in Australia, which peaked at No. 4. Ian Hockley of Beyond the Pale website described the "return to basics with few overdubs and often just a voice and piano base" where the first disc "deals with John Howard's re-election and the bleak feelings that event engendered" and the second one "is more hopeful and life-affirming with bigger, more elaborate productions." Several tracks received considerable airplay, including "I Was Alive". Three of
15125-542: Was released. Although Phillis was living in a small town in Tasmania and Young was living in London, the two occasionally reunited over the years to perform a few shows. Phillis went on to form The Dearhunters and Roger Loves Betty, and also records and performs as a solo artist. In late 2005, Phillis and Young resurfaced under the name The Girls from the Clouds , releasing a 5-track EP titled Lalalala . In April 2007, however,
15250-505: Was still "an indie rock standard bearer in the wider world of music". Arctic Monkeys' fifth album AM (2013) was one of the biggest indie rock albums of the decade, charting at number one on the UK Albums Chart , having sold 157,329 copies, thus becoming the second fastest-selling album of the year. With the debut of AM on the chart, Arctic Monkeys also broke a record, becoming the first independent-label band to debut at number one in
15375-507: Was the Midwest emo bands of the latter half of the decade, who incorporated the jangly guitar tones of earlier indie rock and elements of math rock to create the distinctive style of groups like American Football . The popularity of emo, also allowed a number of "not-quite-indie-not-quite-emo" bands like Death Cab For Cutie , Modest Mouse and Karate to gain significant attention. The loosely defined Elephant 6 collective – which included
15500-544: Was then exacerbated by the success of the Arctic Monkeys. In the years following Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not there was a proliferation of bands such as the Rifles , the Pigeon Detectives and Milburn , who created a more formulaic derivative of the earlier acts. By the end of the decade, critics had taken to referring to this wave of acts as "landfill indie", a description coined by Andrew Harrison of
15625-491: Was used for the 1994 feature film, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert . The group recorded their second album, Undeniably the Whitlams , from April to May 1994 at the 48V Studio in Sydney, with Taylor and Freedman co-producing. The songwriting for the album was shared between Freedman and Plunder, with significant contributions by Lewis. It was released by Black Yak/Phantom in February 1995 and sold approximately 8,000 copies. Ahead of
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